One killed in Madurai gang attack

The charred remains of two motorbikes at Teppakulam in Madurai after an attack on a convoy on Thursday. One person was hacked to death and four others seriously injured in an apparent revenge assault on persons accused for the 2012 Madurai Ring Road petrol bomb case. Photo by S. Sundar.

An armed gang attacked a vehicle carrying seven persons accused in a 2012 petrol bomb incident, killing one and injuring four others in Madurai on Thursday morning.

The police identified the deceased as M. Muthuvijayan (22) of Pattam in Sivaganga and the injured as R. Sonaiya (20) and T. Vignesh (20), both from Ambedkar Nagar in Anupanadi. All three are accused on bail in the 2012 pertol bomb attack case which resulted in the death of seven persons. The injured are T. Arjunan and R. Muniskumar.

The accused were in a TATA Sumo and were being escorted by six others on three motorbikes. When the convoy reached Anuppanadi Road, it was intercepted by an armed gang that hurled petrol bombs on the escort vehicles and broke open the windshield of the Sumo with huge machetes. As Muthuvijayan and the other accused attempted to flee, they were chased and hacked by the gang. Muthivjayan succumbed to injuries.

The others were shifted to the Government Rajaji hospital and the condition of Sonaiya is said to be critical.

Madurai rural Superintendent of Police, V. Balakrishanan, Madurai city Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), Samant Rohan Rajendra, were among those who inspected the scene of crime. The assailants had escaped in two autorickshaws, the police added.

On October 30, 2012, seven persons were killed and 11 others injured when petrol bombs were hurled on a vehicle returning from Pasumpon in Ramanathapuram district on Thevar Jayanthi at Puliyangudi near Madurai. The police suspect that Thursday’s assault was an act of revenge.